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Reverb wheeling & dealing

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder

Jun 20, 2016
3,387
5,912
Arcata, CA
#1
So this may be a highly opinionated topic, but when has the prevailing "best of show" pedals not done it for you?
Example: today I sold my V1 Empress Compressor to buy an Orange Kongpressor. "On paper" the Empress is superior but for me I need something a little more dumbed down.
 
#3
adamaarts said:
The Diamond compressor was terrible.

There's lots more, but that one always stuck with me how awful it was.
Click to expand...
I'm definitely not saying the Empress was awful, it just wasn't my thing despite being "the bee's knees" to many players here. I guess sometimes iconic products just don't do it for everyone. I have no experience with the Diamond Comp but it's clearly well represented as well.
 
#4
adamaarts said:
The Diamond compressor was terrible.

There's lots more, but that one always stuck with me how awful it was.
Click to expand...

lol the Diamond still my favorite after trying pretty much every single $200-ish 'normal' sized flavor of the month compressor pedal. The Diamond is the only one that stayed, along with a Broughton Monocomp just because it's a little different.

But I have not tried the Empress yet. Once they get the issues fixed, I'll give one a shot.

But to answer the question, the one that everybody seems to love but I didn't like at all was the Photon Death Ray.
 
#5
mmbongo said:
lol the Diamond still my favorite after trying pretty much every single $200-ish 'normal' sized flavor of the month compressor pedal. The Diamond is the only one that stayed, along with a Broughton Monocomp just because it's a little different.

But I have not tried the Empress yet. Once they get the issues fixed, I'll give one a shot.

But to answer the question, the one that everybody seems to love but I didn't like at all was the Photon Death Ray.
Click to expand...
I know my use case was a bit different, since I had a higher output active bass that already sounded good. The tone 'enhancing' of the Diamond just did more damage than good. I know many who use it and love it, I am in the minority haha.
 
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#14
It seems there are two (maybe three) different Empress compressors being referenced in this thread. For the sake of clarity, the OP mentioned the v1 Empress compressor. Later, others referenced having not tried "the Empress yet". Recently, Empress discontinued the v1 compressor in favor of their redesigned MKII and Bass Compressor. It was the new Bass Compressor that had an issue for some users using passive basses and so a new ribbon cable was distributed to users free of charge who had the issue. In the meantime, Empress has been working to update the Bass Compressor.

Summary:
There is a v1 compressor that has been discontinued and was replaced by the MKII.
There is a new product in the line up called the Bass Compressor.
You can see pics/comments on all three here: Testing Compressors: Cali, Smoothie, Empress, Diamond, Keeley, FEA, Darkglass, Doc Lloyd, JHS & more

Hope this helps.
 
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#15
It seems to me that anyone who has spent any meaningful amount of time should have learned that pedals react very differently to different basses, amps, and playing styles -- and also simply sound different to different ears -- and therefore there is no specific reason to expect that any individual pedal will work great for you just because it is popular or highly rated.
 
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#19
Off topic, but maybe related; many years ago I went shopping for a chorus pedal for my bass. This was back before Bass specific pedals were really a thing. I auditioned about 4 or 5 different ones, and ended up buying a EH Small Clone. It was the least cost and simplest of all; 1 knob 1 switch. That made it the easiest to use, and for me the best option at that time.
A couple years later I bought a GK 200MB with a built in chorus, but the EH sounded better than the one on the amp, so I kept using it (on the rare occasions I used chorus).
The bottom line is, use what works for you in your given situation with your current setup.
It really doesn't matter what is "supposed" to be better..."better" is subjective.
 
#20
MultiScaleMale said:
I've gone back to a Boss BC-1X from a Cali76 CB twice.
Click to expand...

I'll do you one better. I went back to a Boss CS3 after a Diamond, then after an Opti-Fet, then after a Wampler Ego, EBS, Effectrode PC-2A...the list goes on. I finally broke my attachment to it after revisiting the Keeley Bassist but it took a long time and many, many "great" compressors before it was unseated. It's not the pedals, it's me ;).
 
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